The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
The Revenge of Gaia

The Revenge of Gaia

Why the Earth is Fighting Back and How We Can Still Save Humanity

Summary

James Lovelock's bestselling The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back - and How we can Still Save Humanity is a dire warning against the unchecked growth of civilization.

'Despite all our efforts to retreat sustainably, we may be unable to prevent a global decline into a chaotic world ruled by brutal warlords on a devastated Earth...'

For thousands of years, humans have exploited the planet without counting the cost. Now Gaia, the living Earth, is fighting back. As the polar icecaps shrink and the global temperature rises, we approach the point of no return. Sustainable development, Lovelock argues, is no longer possible, and the only open to us may be a 'sustainable retreat'. This is the one book you must read to find out what is happening, how bad it will get - and how we can survive.

'The most important book for decades'
  Andrew Marr

'The most important book ever to be published on the environmental crisis ... Lovelock will go down in history as the scientist who changed our view of the Earth'
  John Gray, Independent

'Truly terrifying ... Lovelock's arguments carry more conviction than anyone else's now writing'
  Peter Forbes, Daily Mail

James Lovelock is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and the originator of the Gaia Hypothesis (now Gaia Theory). He has written several books on the subject, including Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, The Ages of Gaia and The Vanishing Face of Gaia as well as an autobiography, Homage to Gaia. In September 2005 Prospect magazine named him as one of the world's top 100 global public intellectuals.

About the author

James Lovelock

Elected to the Royal Society in 1974, James Lovelock is the originator of Gaia Theory. His many books include Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (1979), The Revenge of Gaia (2006), and The Vanishing Face of Gaia (2009). In 2003 he was made a Royal Companion of Honour, in 2005 Prospect placed him among the world's top 100 public intellectuals, and in 2006 he received the Wollaston Medal.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more